Now I've Danced around the table twice

I have now danced around my coffee table twice. This isn't a ballroom dance, but a sport induced exhilaration where one does a jig around one's coffee table and yells "wooooo" in a loud quickly going hoarse voice. It's not pretty to watch, so I'm told, but it felt like the right thing to do, on two different occasions.

The first time was when John Stockton hit "the Shot" to send the Utah Jazz to the finals for the first time. I danced around the coffee table for perhaps an hour drinking a bottle of champagne and calling everyone I knew. My wife calls that one of the happiest moments of my life. Not sure she thinks that is a good thing.

The second time was Saturday night as I watched the Utes polish off the Pitt Panthers. I'm a little older and a little more mellow perhaps than when I did the first dance, but it was just as sweet. Both times, I felt the joy of a long awaited victory and having the good guys do it right.

I'm hoping for more dancing in the future, but as when the Jazz went back to the finals a second time, when our Utes return to the BCS money laden party, I doubt it will be quite as sweet as this one. Don't get me wrong it will be great and cause me to buy certain products, ala mucho bags of Tostitos this year (maybe Nokia phones next time), but it will always be the 'second time'.

After such celebration I have to stop and look two directions.

First, forward. No, no, I'm not thinking about next year yet. I'm thinking about the next bowl games and how they will impact this year's team. In fact, I'm looking forward wishing they had another game next week. Nobody has stopped the run-a-way train called the "2004 Utes" and I don't want the season to end. Tonight I'll root against the Auburn Tigers, then I'll root for one of the Rose Bowl teams to blow out the other, so that the Utes can end the season ranked as high as possible. Then I'll go to sleep and dream that some rich entrepreneur will offer the Utes and Sooners or USC a chance to play one game in two weeks for a big trophy and even bigger money (to be split among the BCS folks of course). It won't happen, but as long as I'm looking forward, might as well do a little dreaming.

Second, looking back at the year that was. I can only think, did this really happen?

• They won every game? Not every game against lesser in-state schools, or every conference game, but every one of them? Yes they did, and the Utes did so in a big way as no game was closer than 14 points all season. In college football history, only the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers can match that feat.
• The Utes played on January 1st? The barometer for big bowl games when I was younger was January 1st. The bowls before that didn't matter much and there were no games played after Jan 1. The Utes not only appeared on the big date, but after watching them play, many are thinking they should have played even later, perhaps Jan. 3rd against Auburn.
• Utah's QB was a finalist for the Heisman? He won several Player of the Year awards as well? Yes he did, and it appears that he is as smart off the field as he was on the field, and will take advantage of the next opportunity coming his way....in the NFL. Will he make it big? Who knows, but if you would have told me he would do what he has done the last year and a half I wouldn't have believed it. So, good luck Alex, shock us all again.
• Utah's head football coach won conference and national coach of the year awards and was sought after by elite programs like Notre Dame and Florida? Yes he was, and the national sports media focused on the pursuit of Urban for several days. We'll miss having Meyer at the helm, but good luck Urban! Thanks for painting the town red in such a big way.
• The top two coordinators were sought to be head coaches of other collegiate programs, in the same year? Yes they were. BYU wanted Defensive guru, Kyle Wittingham, and UNLV wanted the high octane offensive coordinator Mike Sanford. In the end, they'll both wear red next season. Although Sanford's red will be in Vegas. To have them both in demand in the same year really speaks to the strength of the 2004 Utes that featured success on both sides of the ball.
• RB Marty Johnson played more than 2 games? After failing to hold up on the field the last two seasons with injuries in the 2nd game of the year and then failing off the field with alcohol related problems leading to brushes with the law, Marty straightened up and flew right. While his individual total yardage numbers weren't what he hoped, Johnson scored an amazing 14 TDS and still ran for over 800 yards and averaged nearly 5 yards per carry. With the exception of Alex Smith, Marty probably benefited more from his time with Urban Meyer than any other player.

What a season, and what a story. While I don't expect to dance around the coffee table again in the near future, this was one that will be remembered.